Fishnet Stockings
Fishing Areas of Yellowstone National Park by Jay Bryce
The fishing season in the park does not ordinarily begin before July, by which time, according to one of the angling writers “the plethora of water has disappeared and the streams flow swift, clear, and cold. At this season of the year trout fishing is at its best.”
YELLOWSTONE LAKE
Yellowstone Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. It and some of the tributary creeks abound with the native or redthroat trout. There appear to be no other game species in the lake. Landlocked salmon planted in 1908 and 1909 have not been seen since. The rainbow trout, planted at the same time in some of the affluents, have shown no evidence of establishment, excepting on the statement of Mr. Croley, a hotel fisherman for 12 years, to the effect that he had seen only one fish other than the blackspotted trout. This fish “looked different and had a broad side band” and was thought to be a rainbow.
In 1919 the senior author found the Water of Flat Mountain Arm, though shallow, distinctly colder than in the lake, evidently owing to the inflow of springs and the creek at its head. Near the head of this arm he found the largest redthroat trout met with in the park, fine, clean, trim, vigorous fellows, not like those observed elsewhere.
All suitable tributary creeks contain redthroat trout. The most notable creeks on the east side of the lake, enumerated from north to south, are: Pelican, Cub, Clear, Columbine, and Beaverdam Creeks. All contain native trout. Sylvan Lake, which discharges through Clear Creek in times of high water, contains a few trout. It is a beautiful mountain lake, clear and moderately cold. Ralph E. Clark said of Pelican Creek:
One mile east of Yellowstone River outlet is Pelican stream, which rises in the cold snows of the mountains and empties its waters into the lake. Here you catch quan tities of uncontaminated trout, large, beautiful, fat, and gamy, as free from Worms as the fresh cold waters they swim in are free from pollution.
On the west side of the lake, named in the same order, are Bridge Creek, entering Bridge Bay; Arnica Creek, an affluent of the northwest side of the Thumb; Solution Creek, a small, narrow stream, with lava bottom and grassy banks bordered with willows, the outlet of Riddle Lake, sometimes going dry. Riddle Lake, so called because of the former mystery of its outlet, is a clear pond of roundish outline, about 1-1/2 miles in diameter, about whose outlet are numerous lily pads and other plants. Its shores are shallow, and its bottom is chiefly of lava gravel. The temperature is about 50° F. Trout are numerous.
Near West Thumb is another small, deep-set lake, named Duck Lake, which has no outlet. It formerly contained no trout, but redthroat trout and landlocked salmon were planted in it. Redthroat trout now appear to be abundant, but landlocked salmon have never been observed. However, the senior author found good-sized Loch Leven trout common in 1919.
Grouse and Chipmunk Creeks enter opposite sides of the southern end of the South Arm. Besides these there are numerous unnamed creeks, some of which go dry in summer. One, however, flowing into Flat Mountain Arm, was found by the senior author on July 17, 1919, to contain more water than many of the other creeks around the lake, probably never going dry. A creek that will flow as did this one during a period of drought, with the lake level one-third lower than ever before known, must be permanent. The creek, unnamed on the available maps, clear and cold, with beautiful green, grassy banks with trees here and there, meanders to an extraordinary degree through a broad, open valley, flowing over a gravelly bed, now with riffles, now with deep holes, making a charming trout brook. At its mouth is a flat much frequented by elk. This creek was found to contain numerous trout of season’s hatch; some 3 to 5 inches long of the previous season; and older fish up to 12 inches in length.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER ABOVE THE LAKE
Above the lake the Yellowstone River winds through marshy meadows, between wooded hills, behind which are the rugged peaks of high volcanic mountains. The current is sluggish, and, according to Mr. Dinsmore, the fall is so slight that it would be a comparatively easy matter in times of ordinary flow to travel by canoe the entire distance from the lake to the southern boundary of the park.
The principal tributaries of this portion of the river from the lake southward on the left are Cabin, Trappers, Mountain, Cliff, Escarpment, and Thoroughfare Creeks. On the other side in the same direction are Badger, Phlox, and Lynx Creeks. Good fishing is found in the river and in the creeks high up where they meander from the mountains.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER BELOW THE LAKE
Below the lake to the upper falls there is no great descent, and the river flows for about 15 miles with a quiet current. Here its banks are bordered with low hills, some of them wooded, others forming open pastures. On the right side going northward the principal creeks are Cotton Grass and Sour Creeks, which unite to discharge their waters into the Yellowstone not far from Alum Creek on the opposite side of the river. On the west side of the river is Trout Creek, which is a clear stream, with grassy banks and gravelly bottom. It has a summer temperature of about 58° F. and is a good trout stream.
Alum Creek is a clear stream about 8 feet wide and 1 or 2 feet deep, rising in the Continental Divide opposite the head of Nez Perce Creek and flowing eastward through the grassy fields of Hayden Valley. Its bed contains much white alkali from the hot springs above, and there is a perceptible alkaline taste to the water, which has a temperature of about 60° F. in summer. In its upper course it has some hot tributaries. One of these is Violet Creek, with a number of hot springs and mudholes. Still another fork is charged with alum, but a third branch is said to be one of the best redthroat trout streams in the park.
YELLOWSTONE RIVER AND BRANCHES BELOW THE FALLS
About 15 miles below the lake the river plunges into a deep canyon over two vertical falls 109 feet and 308 feet in height. This remarkable canyon is more than 20 miles long, with nearly perpendicular walls 800 to 1,100 feet in height. The current below the falls is swift until the river leaves the park.
The most important eastern tributary of the Yellowstone River is Lamar River. It is a large stream, sometimes referred to as the East Fork of the Yellowstone. It joins the Yellowstone not far below Butte Junction. There are many tributary creeks of various sizes, particularly on the north and northeast side. The principal of these are: Miller, Calfee, Cache, Soda Butte, joined by Amphitheater and Pebble Creeks; Slough Creek, the largest branch of which is Buffalo Creek. On the west side the creeks are smaller than most of those of the other side, the principal ones being Cold, Willow, and Timothy, near the upper course. Chalcedony Creek is farther down, and all but Cold Creek are in rather deep ravines near the river. Cascade Creek is a clear brook a few feet wide which enters the Yellowstone between the falls. The high, nearly vertical “Crystal Falls” (129 feet) is near the mouth of the stream and, of course, prevents the ascent of fishes. Redthroat trout were once planted above the falls.
Lamar River and most of its tributaries are inhabited by native trout. The junction of Yellowstone and Lamar Rivers is noted for fine fishing. Soda Butte is well stocked up to near its head, where a waterfall keeps the fish back. According to Mr. Dinsmore, Fish Lake, where the Bureau of Fisheries has for a number of years collected native trout eggs and where in 1921 a small hatchery was established, is a very remarkable water, with an area of only 75 acres. It contains a dense growth of vegetation, which in the late summer blossoms near the surface. After sundown the fish, which average about 2 pounds each, will come up out of the weeds and take gray-hackle flies almost as fast as they can be placed upon the water.
Slough Creek is said to be well stocked with trout up to the lakes at its head, only one of which, Lake Abundance, in Montana, contains trout.
Hellroaring Creek, which joins the Yellowstone from the north below the mouth of Lamar River, is abundantly supplied with native trout in its lower part.
The tributaries of the west side of the Yellowstone worthy of mention all enter this river below the Grand Canyon. The uppermost is Antelope Creek, which joins the river not far from the mouth of Tower Creek. It contains native trout. Tower Creek, for almost its whole length, is hidden in dense forests. Its current is swift, and it is perhaps the coldest stream in the park, the summer temperature being about 45° F. Carnelian Creek is one of its upper branches. About one-fourth mile from its mouth the creek forms a singularly picturesque, quite vertical fall of 132 feet, which is surrounded by lofty towers of volcanic conglomerate. Below the falls is a deep canyon, where the stream is about 10 feet wide and shallow. The waters above the falls were barren previous to the introduction of eastern brook, rainbow, and redthroat trouts.
The lower tributaries of the Yellowstone in the park are Geode Creek, Blacktail Deer Creek, and Gardiner River. Geode Creek is small. Rainbow trout planted in it in 1909 have not since been observed. Blacktail Deer Creek is a clear, rather cold (55° F.) stream running largely through open pastures, with willows along its course. It has no canyons or falls. Its bottom is of laval gravel and rocks, with some water weeds. In summer it is usually 5 or 6 feet wide by 1 or 2 feet deep and is well stocked with native redthroat trout and rainbow trout. Eastern brook trout were planted in 1912, 1913, and 1914.
FISHING REGULATIONS
In order to prevent undue destruction of fish and depletion of the park waters, certain restrictions have become necessary, and it is believed that anglers generally will be in full sympathy with the protective measures that the park authorities find it desirable to a opt from time to time. The general policy is to curtail fishing as little as may be compatible with the maintenance of the supply and to depend largely on increased fish-cultural operations to prevent the depletion of park waters.
Following are the fishing regulations now in force:
1. Fishing with nets, seines, traps, or by the use of drugs or explosives, or in any other way than with hook and lines, or for merchandise or profit, is prohibited.
2. Fishing in particular waters may be suspended by the superintendent.
3. All fish hooked less than 8 inches long shall be carefully handled with moist hands and returned at once to the water, if not seriously injured. Fish retained should be killed.
4. Ten fish shall constitute the limit for a day’s catch per person from all waters within 2 miles of the main belt-line road system. In the case of other waters the superintendent of the park may authorize a limit of not exceeding 20 fish for a day’s catch per person.
About the Author
Jay Bryce is a community manger at iFished.com (http://www.ifished.com/). iFished.com has fishing and local information for over 40,000 lakes and fishing areas in the United States. Information includes current weather and forecasts, best times fishing charts, maps, local businesses and more. iFished.com also has a large library of fishing videos, fishing articles and current fishing reports to help you catch more fish.
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